Denmark

The Danish fleet comprises close to 350 vessels divided into offshore fisheries (approximately 100 vessels 8–12 m and 80 vessels >12 m) and coastal fisheries (approximately 150 vessels). The large-vessel offshore fisheries target (a) sprat and herring in the northern Baltic Sea using small-meshed pelagic trawls, and (b) cod and plaice in the southwestern Baltic fisheries using demersal trawls. In the western Baltic Sea, a flatfish fishery exists targeting plaice which also catches turbot, dab, flounder, and brill. The coastal fisheries target species such as eel, flatfishes, and cod using mainly trapnets, poundnets, and gillnets and are prosecuted off all coasts and in the Belt area. Recreational fisheries target different species depending on the season, with cod, salmon, and trout being among the most important species. For cod, the main fishing area is the Sound (Subdivision 23), while most of the recreational salmon fishery takes place from the island of Bornholm in subdivisions 24 and 25.

Estonia

The active offshore fleet comprises around 30 fishing vessels (17–42 m), while the coastal fishery consists of several hundred small vessels of < 12 m. The pelagic fleet consists of stern trawlers mainly targeting herring and sprat in subdivisions 28.1, 28.2, 29, and 32. Trawlers also catch cod in subdivisions 25 and 26. About 25–30% of the herring catch is taken in coastal fisheries, mainly in the Gulf of Riga (Subdivision 28.1) and the Gulf of Finland (Subdivision 32) using trapnets and poundnets. Flounder is also taken (using Danish seines and gillnets) in the coastal fisheries in the Gulf of Riga and subdivisions 29 and 32. Recreational fisheries primarily target perch, pikeperch, flounder, and whitefish, mainly in the Gulf of Riga.

Finland

The fleet comprises around 3200 vessels, of which almost 1500 vessels are actively used in the fishery. The vast majority of the vessels are < 12 m and operate in coastal fisheries. The offshore fleet is composed of 64 vessels between 12 and 40 m in the Baltic main basin, the Archipelago Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia, and the Gulf of Finland and mainly targets Baltic herring stocks (with sprat taken mainly as bycatch) with pelagic trawls. Occasionally, offshore vessels will fish for cod using bottom trawls in the southern Baltic. The coastal fisheries occur from all parts of the coast, using trapnets, fykenets, and gillnets, and catching salmon, whitefish, pikeperch, perch, pike, vendace, burbot, and occasionally flounder and turbot. Recreational fisheries target mainly perch, pike, pikeperch, whitefish, bream, and herring, using gillnets, rods, fish traps, and fykenets along the coast of Gulf of Finland and in the Archipelago Sea and Gulf of Bothnia.

Germany

The German commercial fleet in the Baltic Sea consists of about 60 trawlers and larger (>10 m total length) polyvalent vessels, and about 650 vessels using exclusively passive gear (< 12 m total length). The German herring fleet in the Baltic Sea, where all catches are taken in a directed fishery, consists of a coastal fleet with mostly undecked boats (rowing/motor boats ≤ 12 m) and a cutter fleet with decked vessels (total length 12–40 m). The German herring fishery in the Baltic Sea is conducted with gillnets, trapnets, and trawls; passive and active gears now share the landings about 50:50. Herring are fished mostly in the spring spawning season, and mainly in Subdivision 24. In the central Baltic Sea, almost all landings are taken by the trawl fishery. All catches of sprat are taken in a directed trawl fishery by cutters >12 m in length. Most sprat is caught in subdivisions 25–29 in the first quarter. Demersal species are caught with bottom trawls and passive gears, particularly gillnets but also trammelnets. There are major targeted fisheries for cod and flounder (subdivisions 22, 24, 25; active, passive; year-round except peak summer months), plaice (Subdivision 22; active, passive; fourth/first quarter), dab (Subdivision 22; active; fourth quarter), turbot (Subdivision 24; gillnet, second quarter), and whiting (Subdivision 22; active, first/second quarter). Freshwater species are mainly targeted by passive gear fishers in coastal lagoons and river mouths. Recreational fisheries are carried out by an estimated 161 000 fishers, from all German shores and from boats (charter and private boats) mostly within 5 nautical miles (NM) of the coast. The main target species are cod, herring, sea trout, salmon, whiting, and flatfish.

Latvia

The fleet comprises around 55 registered offshore vessels (12–40 m) and 610 coastal vessels (< 12 m). The offshore vessels target sprat in the Baltic main basin and herring in the Gulf of Riga using pelagic trawls, and cod and flounder in subdivisions 25 and 26 using demersal trawls. Since 2000, sprat and herring have accounted for 92% of the total annual landings. Most vessels in the coastal fleet are < 5 m and target herring, smelt, round goby, salmon, sea trout, vimba bream, turbot, eelpout, flounder, and cod using fykenets, trapnets, and gillnets. Recreational fisheries occur on all coasts and target flounder, cod, perch, and round goby.

Lithuania

The Lithuanian fishing fleet in 2018 comprised 21 offshore vessels (>18 m) and 59 coastal vessels (< 12 m). The offshore fishing fleet uses pelagic and bottom trawls, with vessels switching between gears depending on target species, fishing conditions, and quota availability. The main target species sprat, herring, cod, and flounder are caught mainly in subdivisions 25, 26, and 28 and to a lesser extent in subdivisions 27 and 29. The coastal fisheries target herring, smelt, flounder, turbot, and cod using gillnets and trapnets within the Lithuanian coastal area of Subdivision 26. Recreational fisheries also occur in these waters and focus on cod, herring, salmon, and sea trout using hooks and trolls.

Poland

The fishing fleet consists of around 150 active offshore vessels (12–35 m) and approximately 500 coastal vessels (< 12 m). The larger offshore vessels (>18.5 m) target sprat and herring using pelagic trawls for fishing sprat and herring, while smaller offshore vessels (12–18.5 m) target cod, flounder, and sandeel using bottom trawls. Fishing occurs mainly in subdivisions 24, 25, and 26 and these species form about 97% of the total annual landings. The coastal fisheries harvest salmon, sea trout, turbot, plaice, eel, roach, perch, bream, pikeperch, whiting, whitefish, razorfish, crucian carp, and garfish. Recreational fisheries mostly target cod and salmon primarily along the central Polish coast and off the Hel Peninsula.

Russia

The fishing fleet is composed of 53 vessels, divided into offshore fisheries (44 vessels in the 25–31 m size class) and coastal fisheries (nine vessels in the 15–25 m size class). In subdivision 26 the small-vessel MRTK fleet targets sprat and herring, while the demersal trawl fleet (< 27 m) targets cod and flounder. The gillnet fleet targets cod, with flounder as bycatch. A poundnet fishery targeting herring occurs in the Vistula Lagoon. In the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland (Subdivision 32), the MRTK fleet operates mainly in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th quarters and is orientated toward herring. Recreational fisheries targeting cod, flounder, turbot, salmon, round goby, and other non-commercial species occur on all Russian coasts.

Sweden

The fleet is comprised of around 20 offshore vessels (around 10 vessels >40 m) and around 550 coastal vessels (the vast majority < 12 m). The offshore fleet mostly targets herring and sprat using pelagic trawls in the main basin of the Baltic Sea, but also uses bottom trawls to fish for cod in the southern Baltic. Coastal fisheries use a mix of gillnets, longlines, and fish traps to catch flatfishes and cod as well as a variety of freshwater species (in the archipelagic areas) and herring, whitefish, and salmon in the Bothnian Bay. A coastal fishery using fykenets targets eel and other species along the southeastern coast. Along the eastern Swedish coast, trawl fisheries target herring and sprat. Recreational fisheries take place along the entire Baltic Sea coast and target marine and freshwater species, including cod, salmon, northern pike, perch, and sea trout.

Figure 2 Landings (thousand tonnes) from the Baltic Sea in 1950–2019, by (current) country. The nine countries having the highest landings are displayed separately and the remaining countries are aggregated and displayed as “other”.

Download image